“Cheers, darlings!” chirps Sam Smith, holding a “fake gold, trashy” champagne flute in one hand and an iPhone in the other. The 27-year-old Oscar and Grammy winner hosted an impromptu online party on Thursday (April 16) to celebrate the release of their new single “I’m Ready” featuring Demi Lovato, which dropped at midnight on the
Exclusive Twitch and Amazon have just been accused of intentionally and maliciously screwing with Omnis and Teddy Riley. Jeff Bezos‘ companies — yes, Amazon owns Twitch too — are accused of blatantly ripping off Teddy’s streamed concert April 2 on the Omnis internet platform by taking the entire event and putting it on Twitch. The
Shares of Disney rose 4.5% Friday, closing to a 38-day high of $106.63, as investors were encouraged by new federal guidelines setting a timetable for when large venues — including theaters and theme parks — could reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic. That boosted Disney’s market capitalization to over $192 billion. And it ended Netflix’s brief
HBO Max is trying to make fetch happen with a new dog grooming competition show. The streamer has given the greenlight to “Hot Dog” (working title), a 12-episode, half-hour series that pit bulls, sorry, pits three dog against each other in a “full head-to-tail creative competition” featuring many different canine breeds. “Hot Dog” is inspired
On the heels of a similar program announced Thursday by AEG Presents, Live Nation — the world’s largest live-entertainment company — announced on Friday that it is preparing to roll out its full ticket-refund program for fans with tickets to shows cancelled or rescheduled due to the coronavirus pandemic, probably before the end of the
Exclusive Lori Loughlin just got a signal from the judge in her college admissions criminal case — that the judge is about to open a can of whup-ass on prosecutors for allegedly coaching a key figure in the case to lie. The judge just ordered prosecutors to get real over something prosecutors allegedly hid for
National Basketball Association players have agreed to a 25% reduction in their salaries while games are on hold because of the Coronavirus. Under terms of the agreement, ratified today by the owners and players’ association, the withholding will begin with the May 15 paychecks. The funds will be held in escrow until it’s known how
California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Friday the formation of an 80-person task force to develop economic recovery strategies amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic — and that group includes at least one or two well-known Hollywood executives. Disney executive chairman Bob Iger and Apple CEO Tim Cook will participate in the task force, which will
Apple Music chief Oliver Schusser is taking the top post at Beats headphones, replacing longtime Beats president Luke Wood, a source close to the situation confirms to Variety. Schusser will also continue to run Apple Music and International Content, reporting to Apple senior VP Eddy Cue. The move will take place at the end of
STX Entertainment is merging Eros International, India’s biggest film studio, to create a new entity named Eros STX Global Corporation. The revamped capital structure includes $125 million of incremental equity from new and existing STX Entertainment equity investors, including TPG, Hony Capital and Liberty Global and a balance sheet that includes a $350 million JP
When the coronavirus pandemic hit the United States, Jamie Dornan was in New York, about to shoot a new TV series. But as production shut down on “Dr. Death,” the 37-year-old actor flew back to his home in England, where he’s been in self-isolation with his wife and three children. Dornan, the star of the
Scheduling is a dark art at the best of times, but in a global pandemic, the role becomes a Herculean task for broadcasters around the world. Lockdowns in the U.K., France, Italy and Spain — the four hardest-hit countries in Europe — have proven a boon for broadcasters, who can play to captive audiences, provided
The judge in the Lori Loughlin college admissions case said on Friday that he is disturbed by defense allegations of misconduct in the case, and asked prosecutors for further briefing. Loughlin’s attorneys have asked the judge to throw out the case, arguing that federal agents had pressured the cooperating witness, admissions consultant Rick Singer, to
Some TV doctors seem to be ignoring the real-world Hippocratic oath. In recent weeks, a trio of popular dispensers of lifestyle advice – Drew Pinsky, Mehmet Oz and Phil McGraw – have appeared on media outlets or via digital video downplaying the threat of the coronavirus pandemic, with remarks that undermine their credibility and urge
David Boorstein is joining Westbrook Studios as the senior vice president and head of scripted television development, Variety has learned exclusively. Westbrook Studios is a subsidiary of Westbrook Inc., which was founded in 2019 by Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, Miguel Melendez and Kosaku Yada. In his new role, Boorstein will will report to Westbrook
It’s the second career (or “career,” in a loose, charitable manner of speaking) that top agent Richard Weitz never would have imagined he’d have, as recently as a month ago. “I’m like a booker,” laughs Weitz, a partner at William Morris Endeavor (WME) and co-head of its scripted television department, still surprised at his dominant
Freeform has decided not to renew its “Party of Five” reboot for a second season. The one-hour drama followed the five Acosta children as they navigated daily life struggles to survive as a family unit after their parents are suddenly deported to Mexico. It starred Brandon Larracuente as Emilio, Emily Tosta as Lucia, Niko Guardado
Taylor Swift’s “Lover Fest” will be something to love in 2021. The singer’s reps announced Friday that the remaining shows she had scheduled for this summer, including a handful of dates on the east and west coast in the United States, are being pushed back to next year. “I’m so sad I won’t be able
Netflix chief Reed Hastings and his wife, Patty Quillin, donated $30 million to Gavi Alliance, the nonprofit immunization organization started by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Geneva-based Gavi announced the cash donation from Hastings and Quillin on Friday, saying it’s the first private-sector contribution toward its drive to raise at least $7.4 billion to
“Presumption of competence.” This is the catchphrase and underlying philosophy of the work that Benjamin Maixner does as director of programs at Exceptional Minds, a not-for-profit professional training academy and studio designed to prepare individuals on the autism spectrum for careers in the digital arts. Founded in 2012 and with its first class graduating in
The psychology of power sits at the center of director Tayarisha Poe’s debut feature, “Selah and the Spades,” about the leader of one of five secret factions at an elite boarding school in Pennsylvania. The film, which generated buzz at Sundance last year, bows April 17 on Amazon Prime. Key to the movie’s look and
The 2020 San Diego Comic-Con, the largest fan convention in North America and one of the biggest promotional events of the year, has been canceled in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, organizers announced on Friday. The event, which pulls in upwards of 130,000 participants each year, was scheduled to be held from July 23–26.
The Writers Guild of America has proposed to start negotiations with studios in mid-May and extend the expiration of its contract two months to June 30. Representatives for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers did not have an official comment on Friday so the May 11 start date is not yet locked down.
Last year, production designer Kate Bunch outfitted a Staten Island mansion for the Eastern European vampires who inhabit the TV mockumentary adaptation of 2014 comedy-horror film “What We Do in the Shadows.” For the FX on Hulu series’ second collection of shows, though, the job got a lot tougher. The new season required 20 to
Bon Iver have released “PDLIF” — “Please Don’t Live in Fear” — a new song aimed at supporting health workers on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. In an effort to provide essential medical items to health workers, the band is donating 100% of “PDLIF” proceeds to Direct Relief, the humanitarian aid organization coordinating
Multiple music industry organizations announced today that an agreement has been reached with California Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez and Majority Leader Ian Calderon on pending amendments to California’s “Gig Economy” Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) that will provide relief to the majority of affected music professionals, including recording artists, musicians, composers, songwriters and vocalists. Upon the Legislature’s
Big Thief today released “Demos Vol. 1 – Topanga Canyon, CA – Feb 2018,” a collection of previously unreleased songs from the sessions that spawned the group’s last two albums, “U.F.O.F.” and “Two Hands.” The demos are available to purchase with all proceeds benefiting Big Thief’s touring crew, which, like virtually every music road crew, has been financially stranded by
Sundance Institute is launching a $1 million fund to support the immediate needs of artists, filmmakers and organizations that share its focus on inclusive storytelling. The non-profit institute, which organizes the Sundance Film Festival, said that one-third of the fund will support Sundance Institute-curated artists. The rest is ear-marked for emergency support for the wider community of independent
The cast of “Too Hot to Handle” is blinding in exactly the way you’d expect from a show that throws hot singles together on a desert island with nothing but tiny bathing suits and flowing alcohol to entertain them. They’re taut and glistening, boasting chiseled pecs and meticulous false eyelashes, the better to lure each
Costume designer Joanna Mae Park and her husband Steven Jones, a production designer, had been working on Netflix’s “Pieces of Her” in Canada in mid-March when television and film productions the world over began rapidly shutting down amid a collective effort to stem the spread of the deadly coronavirus. The couple had moved all the